Not quite making the grade
Re “IvorytowerTube,” editorial, Feb. 18
The editorial notes that professors, being not stupid, can avoid perishing by publishing online, thereby avoiding peer review and adding to their academic dossier.
Yes, we are not stupid. We can usually tell the difference between scholarly contributions that have merit and those that do not. And we can tell the difference between a sensible editorial and one that is not.
As in most professions, including those in the media, appointments and promotions are based on merit.
As to the dissemination of scholarly articles, they are of course readily available to scholars but also to the public via electronic databases such as the National Library of Medicine or Google Scholar. Scholars are happy to send electronic copies of published articles to people who ask for them. And we are happy to talk to the media, even if sometimes the report gets garbled.
Such universities as UCLA now have electronic repositories consisting of copies of articles published by their professors, readily available on the Internet.
Of course, these are not “publications” and have no bearing on whether one perishes. The Ivory Tower is open to the public, as it should be. I’d give this editorial an F.
David Shapiro
Los Angeles
The writer, formerly on the faculty at Harvard University, is a professor emeritus in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
